The Story

On Friday, January 30, 2015, at 1pm, Katherine Ludwig passed, surrounded by friends and family.

She told me many times how thankful she was for all of the support that she was given, and how much it touched her that so many people cared. All of the well wishes, messages, benefit concerts/fundraisers and donations did make a huge difference in her quality of life.

Any money that is donated from this point on will be for memorial expenses and then put in a trust for her 16 year old son, at this site:http://www.youcaring.com/memorial-fundraiser/help-raise-money-for-katherine-ludwig-s-memorial/301091

Thank you for all of your care and concern.

Alicia M, 2/15

Katherine Ludwig. Pioneering writer/editor of Metal Maniacs magazine with over 100,000 readers. Metal. Thrash. Hardcore. Progressive. Punk. Doom. Loud, proud, humble, divisive, outspokenly political. Always in the pit, always thinking. Writing stories that she cared about, about music that meant something to her. In the trenches, scribbling and taking photos about music that this magazine, on the newsstands where no outlander, no metal magazine, nothing before it, sold because of her passion: passion and fire and desire, and her message, her fanatical goals and quirks and politics, which she believed were essential to the person. She never backed down, and never bowed.

She’d cover bands before they were on the mainstream radar: Sepultura. Voivod. Prong. Kreator. White Zombie. Obituary. Cathedral. Cro-Mags. Neurosis. Eyehategod. Carcass. Corrosion of Conformity. She gave a voice to underground punk/doom and crust bands: Amebix, Doom, Deviated Instinct, Winter. She gave a platform to unsigned bands and zines. In her editorials, she wrote about issues that meant something to her. Racism. Sexism. Human rights. Animal rights. Vegetarianism. Homophobia. Even if she got flack about it, she’d soldier on, and call people out.

And now? Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, which has spread in pockets throughout her body. Chemo and survival. Ports in her chest, infusions and meds, badass baldness and snazzy wigs. Getting up, taking care of her son, and fighting.

Fighting.

And now I’m asking you to give Katherine, this leader, this beautiful and strong warrior, donations that will relieve some of the burden that go along with all of the guts and glory that go along with chemo, and cancer, and everything and everything that will help as as she helped all of you. Please share this page on all of your media …let’s do this.

All of you Metal Maniacs fans: I know you remember how you loved and or hated her—but never were indifferent. I remember how many letters we got, so many that when I was her assistant, much of my time was spent opening and sorting.

All of you vegetarians/vegans: this was the first time a major metal magazine covered animal rights and espoused a veg lifestyle on a platform which was often hostile to such beliefs.

All of you humans: let’s get together and help Katherine in her time of need.

Fundraiser Updates

Posted on February 1, 2015

Posted on February 1, 2015

On Friday, January 30, 2015, at 1pm, Katherine Ludwig passed, surrounded by friends and family.

She told me many times how thankful she was for all of the support that she was given, and much it touched her that so many people cared. All of the well wishes, messages, benefit concerts/fundraisers and donations did make a huge difference in her quality of life.

Any money that is donated from this point on will be for funeral expenses and then put in a trust for her 16 year old son.

Posted on January 12, 2015

Posted on January 12, 2015

Update, January 11, 2015: Katherine has run into some complications; unfortunately, her platelet levels are too low for her to resume chemotherapy. Her doctor is conferring with a specialist this week about the possiblility of a another form of chemo; the other alternative is a bone marrow transplant (the most fun/craziest thing a doctor can do to a cancer patient!) She wanted to give you all a hearty THANK YOU for all of your support and good wishes. Please continue to donate, and tell everybody you know about this site! It's incredible how expensive this is, and it's only going to get worse. I'm thanking you, from the bottom of MY heart, for all that you've done so far.

Posted on November 5, 2014

Posted on November 5, 2014

Thank you all for your support.

Katherine wants to tell you that knowing so many people are behind her makes cancer a lot easier to deal with.

At this point, she's gone through four chemo treatments ( and a few that didn't happen due to low blood levels), a blood transfusion, losing valuable weight, a lot of hair on the floor, and wearing parkas when it's 60 degrees outside.

Getting your emails, packages, notes, and most importantly, having your support has made this all the more bearable.